Crash and Burn
by Pance
Summary: Sakura's life falls apart and Kakashi becomes her guardian. Follow them as they both learn to adjust and deal. Not a romantic story or pairing. This is pure friendship and family relationship. T for now, I'll change if need be later.
1. Prologue

**Crash and Burn**

**Disclaimer: I do not own. If I did Kakashi would be mine and I'd get to see his face (I know, we've seen his father's but I want to see his on him)**

**Summary:** Sakura's life falls apart and she must re-adjust her life. Kakashi is made her legal guardian and must help raise her, becoming her family. I have no plans for this being a romantic Kakashi and Sakura story, there are plenty of those out there with few as a family/friendship base.

**Thank you to Platti for beta-ing. **Please check out her stories as well ^_^

**PROLOGUE:**

Most people thought that they knew Sakura, and in a sense they did. The only problem was they didn't know everything about her, or know her as well as they all thought they did. What they didn't know is that she hid the fact her life was hell at times at home.

Sakura never said a word about it to others. She had observed how people treated Sasuke after his family was slaughtered and she didn't want their pity. She saw how they treated Naruto and didn't want to be looked down upon for being on her own instead of having parents.

No, she didn't want that so she decided to continue acting how everyone wanted her to act. She continued arguing with Ino over Sasuke even though she had other issues to worry about. She kept trying to get Sasuke's attention because that's what was expected of her and to stop would send red flags up to everyone. She continued to be annoyed with Naruto even though he provided a distraction from her thoughts, for which she was thankful.

Inside Sakura couldn't wait to graduate from the academy. Her father had told her she wouldn't make a great ninja but she was going to prove him wrong she hoped. Once she graduated that would mean having a team and going on missions. That meant less time at home with a father that use to be physically abusive and was still emotionally and mentally abusive. Her mother never did anything about it because she didn't like confrontations.

This was why Sakura couldn't wait to be old enough to move out. She didn't want to draw attention to the issues so she was trying to wait it out. She figured in the time to come she would be busy training with her team and that once they got pass the lower rank missions they would be traveling out of the village. She was nervous, what if her team found out she'd been abused when she was younger? What if her team hated her as much as her father or didn't care about her like her mom?

Well, she was about to find out since the graduation test was coming up soon and things would go from there if she passed, which she was positive that she would.


	2. First to Go

I do not own Naruto. I just like to borrow the characters. If I owned them Kakashi would be mine ^_^

A.N. – not much of a response from the prologue but it is short so maybe this will get more. Thank you to those who have marked it as a favorite or story alert.

BTW – I changed up the bell test a little to fit it into the story better. These things will happen so hopefully nobody is too upset over that.

Now, on with the story!

Chapter 1: First To Go

Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time that night. She was thinking over the day she had while laying in bed. She was placed on a team with Naruto and Sasuke and didn't know how to feel about that. The green eyed girl had pretended to be annoyed about the blond and ecstatic about the other. Already formulating a plan she decided that this was the best chance to slowly 'change' her attitude so that she could be more like herself.

Now that they were on teams there wouldn't be a whole classroom full of other students and teachers to get suspicious of her sudden change in character. Their new sensei didn't really know her so he wouldn't know that she drastically changed. If she was careful the two boys would be oblivious. The first thing to go was the so called obsession with Sasuke. The preteen was going to make it like she was trading it in for becoming serious on training.

The truth of the matter was she did truly want to be better. She wanted to prove her father wrong for all the times he said she'd never make a good ninja. She wanted to be strong enough to stand up for herself so she'd never go through what she went through as a child.

With that Sakura stopped her train of thoughts. She didn't want to think about that. It only brought pain and anger that she couldn't do anything with.

*sigh* "I need to get some sleep for tomorrow," she mumbled to herself. Eventually she drifted off to sleep.

**

Team 7 was pissed!

"What the hell? How long are we going to have to wait for this bastard to show?" This was yelled from Naruto after they had been impatiently waiting for a few hours already.

"I could be doing something better with my time." Sakura's mumbled voice replied in bitter response.

Both guys were slightly surprised since this was the girl who always tried to be on a teacher's good side, but they shrugged it off. The two boys figured it was nothing since all three were hungry and tired from being there so early and being told not to eat breakfast.

"I agree. I could be training." Sasuke finally responded.

With that all three of them were quiet again as they continued to wait for even longer.

Sakura was drifting in and out of sleep like Naruto was but was almost glad she didn't eat because she was so nervous. What if they failed? She couldn't stand it if she failed to become a ninja. How would she get strong enough to hopefully stand up for herself one day? How would she deal with her father taunting her about being a failure and saying how she'd be dependent on him for life?

Just then there was a poof of smoke and when it cleared there was the man all three of them had been mentally cursing and waiting for.

"Yo," came his greeting with a hand wave. Not that his students knew it, but he had been there a little before he appeared. He had taken several minutes to look over and study the three of them.

Kakashi really wasn't impressed by them and thought they'd fail like the others, though time would tell. If they passed his bell test, then he might put more thought into actually finding out a little more about each of them.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi got the attention of the three kids. He explained to them the object of getting the bells from him and within the set time limit.

**

While Naruto went to attack their sensei Sakura went to hide. She knew there was no way Naruto could take him on his own but this would give her a chance to observe their new sensei while Naruto attempted to pound him.

Naruto's attacks didn't really take much time before Kakashi had taken care of him for a bit. Sakura decided to relocate. She didn't bother wondering about Sasuke, the boy had always been a loner and she doubted he'd change now.

Sakura found Kakashi and was trying to decide how to approach the white haired man when he called her name from behind her.

Shocked, the pink haired girl looked over her shoulder as he made some hand seals.

Next thing she knew what there was a beat up looking Sasuke dying in front of her. Luckily she knew it was a genjutsu, however she was torn on how to react. One hand said to act like was expected and use it as an opportunity to attack her sensei. The other hand reminded her that her first small goal was to drop the so called Sasuke obsession. Opps! Apparently she took too long to decide as Kakashi dropped it himself and was looking at her funny.

Kakashi wasn't taking any of this seriously. He used to be Anbu and there was no way these kids would be able to up him, especially since so far they had yet to work together to pass the test. Naruto was easily handled on his own.

After Naruto, Kakashi sensed Sakura near him and decided to get her out of the picture next. He figured a simple genjutsu of her precious Sasuke-kun would be enough to get her to freak out.

While he didn't think it would permanently scar her for life, the older ninja expected to get some kind of reaction from her. There weren't any tears though and she didn't scream. No, she looked blankly at first then changed her expression to one of so what before changing it to one of thought.

Intrigued, Kakashi watched her briefly before releasing the genjutsu and looking at Sakura with a puzzled expression. He knew crazy fangirl types, he'd had one on his team when he was younger, and Sakura's reaction didn't match the profile. So did that mean she was better at hiding her emotions when called for?

Kakashi didn't think that was the case. Her blank face had been too raw; like she didn't know whether to get upset or like she didn't really care. Was she not really into Sasuke? If not, why the change? Why the charade of supposedly being obsessed with the boy?

After he dropped the attack to her senses, Sakura looked shocked and immediately was on edge. He looked at her thoughtfully while trying to think of his next attack. She caught him off guard with what she said next.

"Sensei, if you want to get me with genjutsu and torture me, at least come up with something that'll actually upset me. Contrary to popular belief I actually don't like Sasuke."

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind," he mumbled while filing the information away for a later date if needed.

Before he had a chance to attack next, she moved as though she were about to attack him but faked and left the area. Odd. He'd have to keep his eye on her.

**

Sakura didn't want to stick around in the event that he chose another genjutsu to attack her with. She decided that as annoying as he was, Naruto was her only chance. If she was going to change she might as well start there with things too. Naruto liked her, which was common knowledge. Also, she realized she'd never seen him be mean to anyone, so he was more likely to work with her.

If they could work together and get the bells then it'd be Saskue going back to the academy. That sounded like a good way to show she didn't like him anymore. Thinking to herself, she figured that if sensei had already faced Naruto and her, then Sasuke was likely to be next. This would buy time for her to grab Naruto and plan something.

**

Sasuke was going at Kakashi with all he could. He had managed to set up multiple traps while the older shinobi dealt with the loser and annoying one. The Raven was so close that he brushed the bells and smirked at the man.

Kakashi was surprised that Sasuke had the abilities that he did but that didn't mean he'd let the brat get the bells. Before long, Kakashi could sense Naruto coming up towards them on one side with Sakura on the other side.

Deciding to finish with Sasuke before finding out what the other two were up to, Kakashi used an Earth technique to pull Sasuke into the ground, with only his head sticking out. Just as he was about to impart some words on the raven head, Naruto started to attack him with a massive amount of clones and weapons.

**

Sakura sighed to herself. While Naruto was distracting and attack their sensei she was going to see if see could use a genjutsu on him and set up some traps, but now she'd have to get Sasuke out of the way. While she didn't like the guy, she was above leaving him there to get caught up in the attacks.

Sasuke seemed surprise she wasn't swooning over him when she reached him. He watched surprised as she carefully set a genjutsu and then helped him get out. Looking at him she addressed him.

"Either stay out of our way or help set up the traps we have planned so that we can get sensei and those bells."

"Pft, whatever" was the response she got from the broody ninja.

**

Kakashi was fighting with Naruto but keeping an eye on Sakura. He was disappointed to see she didn't help Sasuke out of his position. With her and Naruto working together that was coming close to the point of the test. The experienced ninja wasn't sure if he should blame them though for not working with the Uchiha.

As Kakashi finished up with the last of the clones and decided to finish this so he could see what the others were up to, he was attacked from his side.

Looking up in surprise there was Sakura attacking him as well. Granted she wasn't much of a challenge but he decided he needed to actually pay attention to what was going on somehow he had a feeling that those two were up to something. His visible eye narrowed.

"Now Naruto!"

Kakashi was curious to know what she was referring to. Looking at the blond his visible eye went wide with shock as Naruto was suddenly a naked female covered barely by wisps of smoke. Avoiding a kick to the face, barely in time, Kakashi leapt back to avoid Sakura's foot taking advantage of his distraction.

She kept at though for a minute and he simply blocked and backed up. Bad choice.

'Shit' Kakashi thought to himself. 'So this is what she was up to when Naruto was attacking me with his clones. Well this shouldn't be too hard to avoid. Nice to see at lease two of them can work together.'

Kakashi easily avoided the traps but he as he was avoiding a particularly nasty one his eye widened. 'Sasuke!' Looking over he could see the raven hair boy about to be caught in the explosions.

Sakura and Naruto smirked to themselves. It had played in their favor that sensei had left the third teammate buried, plus with Naruto's distraction, Sakura was able to place the slight genjutsu to make it appear to Kakashi that Sasuke was still there.

At the last second Sakura released the genjutsu and it revealed to Kakashi that Sasuke was no longer buried up to his head. In fact the so called genius was ready to pounce and grabbed at the bells.

As Sasuke almost reached the bells, Kakashi smirked as the alarm went off signaling the time was up, too bad for them. At least there seemed to be hope for the group after all.

**

Kakashi looked down hard at the three before him. All three were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear his verdict.

"I honestly didn't think you'd make it this far. Naruto, you were impulsive and attacked while the other two did nothing to help you. Sakura, you watched and did nothing so that you could observe, though I must say I'm intrigued by earlier. Seems you aren't the fangirl everyone thinks you are. Sasuke you need to learn to work as a team.

Ninja are put into teams for a reason, it's so they can work together and cover for each others' weaknesses. In my book you are nothing but a piece of trash if you don't take care of your comrades. They watch your back; it is your duty to watch theirs. You'll also be a lot more successful that way. You still have a ways to go and need to learn to work together."

With that said he looked at Naruto and Sakura before continuing.

"Sakura, Naruto, you two were able to work together and didn't leave Sasuke in that spot or to possibly be injured, therefore I will pass you. Sasuke, I hope you work more willingly with them next time instead of setting a few traps while waiting for your opportunity. However it's a start and better than your earlier attempt you made alone."

"Congratulations, you three are now team 7!"

Naruto jumped up in joy.

Sasuke gave a 'hm' and smirked.

Sakura, Kakashi noticed, had a look of pure relief and smiled faintly.

Yep, this would be interesting.

A.N. – sorry if the fighting sucked, haven't really written one before. Let me know what you think. Let me know if I need more details (and what kind if so) or what you think it needs. I didn't want too many details b/c I know I personally get bored (adhd what can I say?) with that. Any questions just ask and I'll answer. Please read and review. Hope you enjoyed

Peace out


	3. No fear

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did I'd be married to Kakashi :-p

AN – So here's the thing, this has been done for months. I got a beta but they never got back to me with the edited chapter. I've given up for now and have decided to post this so you know I haven't abandoned the story, I really love this story. If anyone is interested in beta-ing this please send me a message.

Thanks to my new beta Platti

Chapter 2: No Fear

Sakura had a new goal that she wanted to reach, a new stepping stone towards her more ultimate goals.

Sure they had completed missions, but they had been the lowest ranking missions that were given. There had been no threat or danger present in weeding gardens or walking dogs.

Those had been good for allowing her to show she wasn't that interested in dating Sasuke. They also allowed her to learn some patience in dealing with Naruto.

Sasuke was still the stand offish type but at least their sensei was nice, even if aloof. She had taken to training with Naruto; if nothing else the guy had energy that would test anyone's stamina.

However, she currently was in the middle of the first C-rank mission the team had gotten. When attacked she acted brave the best she could but she wasn't of much help. Fear had left her fairly immobilized and forced her to just watch. She didn't want to be afraid next time. How would she reach her goals if fear and inability immobilized her?

So here they were working on climbing trees using chakra as she thought this over. She'd been thinking of it since Kakashi-sensei had fought with Zabuza.

She wasn't stupid, she realized she was outclassed but at the least she wanted to make sure that she was level headed and that fear wasn't getting the better of her thoughts or emotions. It wouldn't do as a ninja or a person to let such a feeling get the best of her.

**

Kakashi watched with interest while his students worked on climbing the trees with chakra.

Naruto, he observed wasn't doing well at all with figuring out the proper amount of chakra to use.

'Not surprising though, it's to be expected considering he has the worst control despite training with Sakura,' Kakashi thought to himself.

Sasuke caught his eye next. He seemed to be doing okay with the exercise and was able to get up much further than his blond rival.

Sakura had already made it up to the first branch and had taken a break. She had been very focused and determined, something that wasn't new for her.

Finished with her break, Kakashi watched his only female student as she went back to training.

'I wonder what drives her, from all that I've been able to dig up it's like she suddenly changed once she was placed on the team. I shouldn't really complain but I can't help to be curious as to what caused it.

According to everyone I've spoken to and all that I've been able to dig up she should be so… different,' Kakashi thought to himself. 'Allegedly she should be easily annoyed by Naruto, fawning over Sasuke, cheery, social, and unconcerned about the practical training of being a ninja.'

Kakashi frowned as he continued with his musings while subconsciously looking over to check on his students every so often.

'Everything about Sakura's supposed personality is wrong, almost opposite. I've seen her and Naruto spar after missions and training. She's grown to be more patient with him, helping them bond as closer friends. Sasuke more or less seems to be someone she sees everyday by chance instead of the objection of her desires.

The other aspects are just as wrong from what little I've observed of her. Sakura doesn't seem that cheery or social, in fact, she seems subdued. Going back to the fact that she trains with Naruto shows she does care about attempting to get better physically. Her background knowledge and intellect is already above par so that isn't an issue to focus on.'

**

Sakura sat on the roof of the house and just enjoyed the view around her. The scenery wasn't bad, especially with the water next to the house, and the moon and stars were visible in the sky.

She'd come up for a chance of peace and relaxation before she turned in to go to sleep for the night. As far as she knew, the boys were stubbornly out training some more in some unspoken competition.

The pink haired girl gave a soft sigh before leaning back on the roof so that she could look at the stars and moon a little longer before heading back inside soon.

'Once I'm home again I won't have the luxury or freedom of doing something like this. I might as well enjoy it while I can,' Sakura mused to herself.

"It's a nice view of the sky tonight, the moon is calming," Kakashi said to his student as he appeared near her.

He observed as his student started and flinched a little. 'Odd, maybe she was lost in thought; still I didn't think I'd scare her enough to make her flinch.'

Kakashi frowned lightly at that notion but let it slide for the moment.

"It is," was Sakura's light response to her sensei's comment.

She was hoping he hadn't caught her slight flinch. He had caught her off guard and it was an instinct she had trouble controlling at times around others. Sakura liked to think she was improving her tendencies to be jumpy.

She didn't enjoy being that way, an easy person to startle to death, especially by men. It's just how she was though due to her past and it was something she'd have to get better with. She had gotten used to Iruka-sensei and deemed Kakashi-sensei as being okay; he had promised to protect them with his life after all.

A hand on her should made Sakura tense as she was pulled from her thoughts.

She turned to see Kakashi crouched next to her with his hand on her shoulder, as he looked at her with a calculating expression.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked as he sat down next to her.

"It's nothing," was her even reply.

"Okay, but I will listen if you ever need or want me to," was his response as they both stared at the moon and the stars.

"Thank you, that means a lot coming from you. Maybe someday I'll take you up on that offer."

With that the talk died and they both got lost in their thoughts. Awhile later Sakura got up to head to bed, wishing her sensei a goodnight.

Kakashi gave her a happy eye crease and bid her the same before returning to his thoughts. He knew there was something not right, but there were only two options left. The problem was her home life, something he cringed at digging into, or perhaps he was wrong. He hoped for the latter.

**

Somehow Sakura had managed to keep her head. Kakashi-sensei was fighting Zabuza while Naruto and Sasuke went up against Haku. In the mean time, she was guarding Tazuna, having successfully saved him a couple times from the huge sword about to slice through him.

Naruto and Sasuke hadn't been heard from in a while, though at the moment there was a powerful energy radiating from that direction.

'I wonder what the source is,' Sakura briefly thought to herself. 'Whatever it is gives me the creeps. I hope Naruto and Sasuke finish their fight soon.'

'It sounds like Kakashi sensei is up to something, I wonder what he just performed.'

Sakura didn't have to wait long for her answer though as some of the mist cleared and her and Tazuna gasped slightly in surprise as they saw Zabuza stuck in the jaws of Kakashi's dog summons.

Sakura watched the scene as in unfolded before her. She was interested as well in seeing Kakashi-sensei's original move. The pink haired girl wasn't disappointed when she saw the chakra visibly flow like an electrical current and sounded like chirping birds.

'Wow'. That one word summed up Sakura's amazement as she watched her sensei charge.

**

Kakashi couldn't believe what had happened as he told Naruto to stay out of his fight. He was glad to see the blond student was okay while pushing his worry about Sasuke out of his head as he counter attacked Zabuza.

'Man, all of this is going to give me a headache,' Kakashi thought as he was getting the upper hand on his enemy.

'I can't believe that kid just died like that to protect this guy who doesn't even give a damn.'

Out of the corner of his eye the white haired ninja saw Naruto over by Sakura. The boy seemed dejected as he told her something before hanging his head.

'I guess that means things aren't good about Sasuke. Sakura doesn't seem hysterical further proving she's not interested, which goes back to all the questions about her. Naruto probably won't take it well if Sasuke is dead and he survived. What a shitty mission.'

**

"What the hell?" Naruto and Sakura couldn't help shouting this as they saw Gato and his hired thugs.

Both of them watched as Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza quit their fight since it no longer seemed necessary.

Their eyes widen as they watched the pudgy, short man kick the dead body of Haku. Neither could comprehend how someone could do that to a boy who was already dead. Even more so, neither could understand why Zabuza wasn't attacking Gato nor speaking up against his actions.

'Is that how Kakashi-sensei would react if we died? Would he not bother to even protect our body from such an act? Would he just not care?' All of these questions raced through Sakura's mind as she barely registered Naruto speaking and giving Zabuza a piece of his mind.

Sakura was brought out of her thoughts by Zabuza charging Gato with the fury of a man possessed.

It didn't take long before Gato was dead, though Zabuza, who already had useless arms courtesy of Kakashi, was unable to fight and on his deathbed.

Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi tensed slightly as Gato's men got angry about their meal ticket dying. Kakashi was drained from his battle with Zabuza and Naruto was still fairly worn out from fighting Haku. Sakura was the only one in fair fighting condition.

Naruto was the first to act and made a handful of clones. Just after that Kakashi made about twenty or so clones hoping that they could bluff their way through this fight. Sakura looked at her teammates and refused to let them be the only ones to fight.

Sakura made two clones of her own as she hoped for the best as they got prepared to fight.

Just as the group of men were about to attack, an arrow landed in front of Sakura and Naruto. The men stopped as they looked up, causing the shinobi to look behind them and see a sight that surprised them.

Tazuna's grandson stood in front of a group of people with a crossbow in his hands. Behind him stood his mother, Tazuna's daughter, and others from the town armed with anything that could be used as a weapon.

It didn't take long at all before Gato's men scrambled to flee the scene once they realized they had poor odds of winning.

**

"There we go."

_Once the bandits had run away Kakashi had laid Zabuza next to Haku so he could say goodbye to the dead boy before he died himself. _

_Shortly after that Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura had looked back to where Haku had fought them and discovered Sasuke sitting up._

_Naruto had run to his teammate's side as Kakashi and Sakura walked over. Apparently the needle's Haku hit him with had missed vital organs and only knocked him out temporarily._

Kakashi and his team stood in front of the fresh graves of Haku and Zabuza. The four of them had thought it only humane to give them proper burials before returning to the village now that their mission was over.

The bridge was complete and now the island could open trade again, which would allow for growth and job opportunities.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto started as he got his team leader's attention.

"Are we really tools like that? Is that how it's supposed to be, being a real ninja? To act indifferent when your comrade dies?"

Sasuke glared at the ground and Sakura looked wide eyed at her sensei to see what his response would be.

Kakashi just nodded his head, showing it is true. Ninja are supposed to control and suppress their emotions.

"Then, I don't want to be like a regular ninja, I'll follow my own rules and my own way."

Naruto's words made the man smile at his charge's response.

**

Sakura frowned as Naruto challenged Sasuke to a race and they took off heading towards the village.

"Sakura, is there something on your mind?"

Kakashi had been watching her and had a feeling that there was something bugging her that perhaps she didn't want to talk about with the boys around.

Looking kind of nervous Sakura started to answer her sensei while looking at her feet.

"It's just…I was wondering sensei. If we're tools and ninja aren't suppose to have emotions, would you be just as indifferent? If one of us or all of us died, would you be as indifferent as Zabuza first was when Haku died? Do we matter at all or even now are we already nothing but mere tools that you are sharpening?"

Kakashi shifted on his feet as he looked away, displaying outwardly only a small percentage of his discomfort at the questions.

Sakura watched him for a moment as he seemed to attempt to say something to answer her.

After a few minutes of awkward silence Kakashi finally answered in a hesitant and uncomfortable tone.

"Honestly, I'd probably act almost as indifferent on the outside except maybe some sign of anger towards the one or ones responsible. On the inside though…well, I'd be upset to some degree…"

"Oh," was the only reply Sakura could come up with.

She could sense he really didn't want to discuss anything related to his emotions or anything personal. With that in mind she was okay with his answer and was appeased for the time being. Surprisingly, Kakashi-sensei seemed to care a little bit and for her that was enough at the moment.

"Sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Can….can I hug you?"

Sakura had no clue why she asked, but she had an urge to hug him, though she didn't want to hug him and have him get mad at her.

Kakashi was caught off guard by her request. He wasn't one for contact with people other than to spar with them or fight enemies.

'Maybe I should just let her though. Something seems to be off about her, especially compared to what I was told about her. Maybe she just needs someone to trust in.'

"Yes," he replied while trying to force himself to not sigh.

With that Sakura hugged him tight for a moment and he clumsily placed one hand on her upper back and patted her head with the other.

Luckily the hug was brief and he was relieved that she hadn't clung to him for even more than a minute.

Before the man knew it, the girl was off to catch up to her teammates with a smile on her face like she didn't have a care in the world.

**

The four of them walked in silence as they got closer to their village. They had been traveling for awhile now and it was late at night but they saw the gates in the distance so there was no point in stopping.

The silence was broken however by Naruto who actually voiced a fairly intelligent question that the other two males hadn't thought about.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I don't have parents so I don't really know what it's like, but will your parents be angry that the mission took longer than we thought it would or are they understanding?"

Sakura stopped for just a moment but kept walking as her eyes widened.

Kakashi's lone eye widens slightly but returned to its normal size.

'Damn, I forgot she has parents despite the rest of us not having family for years. I hope they understand, despite being civilians. I don't really want to deal with angry parents.'

Sasuke quit brooding and actually looked at his two teammates with interest.

'The dobe asks a good question. I wonder though by her reaction if that's a yes.'

While Kakashi and Sasuke were thinking to themselves, Naruto watched his teammate as she thought to herself a moment before answering him.

"I have no clue. I hope they aren't angry," answered Sakura in a timid voice as she looked at the ground.

Naruto sensing her discomfort didn't comment anymore and let it drop.

Sasuke looked at the girl closely but choose not to comment as well.

Kakashi stiffened.

'She's normally not so timid, is she just nervous because she's tired and not sure how they will react, or does she expect they will get angry but doesn't want to say? I guess I'll have to see and find out. I wonder if something at home is the reason she seems to be different from when she was in the academy."

Kakashi laid his hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder and spoke to her after she turned her head to look at him with a slightly apprehensive expression.

"I'm sure they'll understand once you explain to them what happened and if you have a lot of trouble with them let me know and I'll talk to them."

Kakashi gave her his infamous happy eye crease smile.

"Thank-you, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said in a slightly relieved voice.

**

It hadn't taken them more than ten minutes to get into the village after the brief conversation Naruto had started.

Kakashi had told the kids they'd report to the Hokage in the morning and to go home and get some sleep.

Naruto and Sasuke had each walked of to their respective apartments but Kakashi had made sure to walk Sakura to the front of her house.

He'd asked her if she wanted him to stay and talk to her parents but she'd declined politely and he was more than happy to be able to go home.

**

Sakura entered her home quietly to make sure she didn't wake her parents in case they were sleeping. She had a fairly good idea that her father would be furious and she was hoping to avoid facing him. All she wanted at the moment was to get changed and go to bed.

She realized that it, unfortunately, was not going to happen.

There sat her father in his chair.

He looked furious and his voice matched his fury as he asked her a question.

"Where the hell have you been?"


	4. Inside View

Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form. If I did, Kakashi would be mine.

A.N. – I hope you enjoy! Thanks to my beta Platti

Chapter 3: Inside View

"Where the hell have you been?" The question was asked with such venom that Sakura froze for a moment.

'This is the start of it, don't freeze up now,' Sakura thought to herself as she desperately tried to remember that she didn't want to live in fear. She didn't want to let something such as fear interfere with her life. The girl would not allow it to control her.

Not knowing how her father would react, if he would be abusive and lash out or play mind games, Sakura decided she should remain calm.

"Our client lied to us about the nature of our mission. It was actually an A-ranked mission and took longer than we thought it would. We just got back from it," Sakura answered in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Oh really? I suppose it didn't occur to you that you should have informed me and your mother immediately?" Her father raged as he stood up and got in her face.

Sakura knew she'd get in trouble for it but she glared at him as annoyance set in. Her tone was reflective of her aggravation.

"I'm a ninja now; I won't always be able to inform you of changes to the mission plan, where I am, what we're doing, or when I'll be home. It's just not realistic or feasible."

"I don't care if you're a ninja. I'm your father and I demand to know where you are and if you don't like it tough shit. If you aren't able to tell me where you are all the time and are incapable of keeping us informed, then you can quit. You're still a minor and if I don't approve then you can't do it."

Her father's face was smug as he crossed his arms over his chest. He loved pissing her off and upsetting her by taking away the things Sakura loved. He was best summed up as a control freak and practically got off at being such an ass.

Sakura was shaking. She was so pissed and frustrated that she couldn't help the tears that slipped past her eyes. It pissed her off even more that she was crying but she was so angry that she couldn't hold it in.

'There's no way he can take it away. The third would notice something was wrong if I quit and would interfere. I think Kakashi-sensei would interfere though I'm not really sure. Grr. He makes me so angry, the fucking smug ass bastard. I wish he'd fucking die. I wish I was a match for him but the best I can do is yelling back and stand my ground,' Sakura thought to herself.

Knowing it'd most likely cause her more trouble, but not caring because the point needed to be made, she talked back in an attempt to put her father in some place.

"It's too late to interfere and stop me from being a ninja," Sakura said coolly.

"Really? Want to test that out? I think you should miss training and anything related for a couple weeks so you can reflect on who the adult is and who makes the decisions around here."

"NO!" Sakura's voice was loud, angry and dripping with hate as she yelled her response to the conniving bastard.

"Excuse me? Would you like to make it 4 weeks?"

"My team will look for me and want to know why I'm not there."

"Guess they'll have to deal."

"It'll be considered abandonment of duty and possible treason."

"That'll be your problem to deal with, not mine."

Her father sounded malicious with a smug smile during that comment.

Sakura glared harder and smirked herself before responding.

"You're wrong; they'll blame you when I tell them what happened. They'll accuse you of treason and let me go."

The look on her father's face was a look of shock that quickly turned to outrage.

Before Sakura could register his actions, her father raised his hand and smacked her.

The smack stung but thankfully it wasn't too hard, though if it had she would have been able to claim abuse and possibly gotten him in trouble. Sakura had no doubt in her mind that her father knew for such reasons to not leave proof.

"Go to your room, we'll finish this in the morning."

Sakura really wanted to argue but at the same time she was so angry and tired that she'd rather deal with the issue in the morning. Being rested would make it easier for her to think straight and make even better arguments, allowing her to hopefully outsmart him.

**

At the moment Sakura was currently sitting in her room, on top of her neatly made bed.

She had been slightly tired when she woke up but she couldn't sleep any later with her father pounding on her door. Apparently he felt she should be up early just for him to keep her from meeting her team.

Sakura had tried to argue with him but it had been futile. He didn't give an inch and her mother, who always avoided confrontation, was of no help. Eventually Sakura gave up and had resigned herself to her bedroom.

The pink haired girl released a long sigh.

'I'm sure Kakashi-sensei or even Naruto will come looking for me. Everyone on the team knows that I am never late and it isn't my style to skip out either. I hope Kakashi-sensei can talk to my father and make him see some light.'

Sakura groaned to herself.

'Great. I'm sure Kakashi-sensei can help me; especially with as serious as he takes being a ninja but this still sucks. It'll be embarrassing needing him to help me with my father and the hard time he's giving me. I hope he doesn't see me a weak. Luckily there isn't much of a bruise from the slap last night so I hope he doesn't notice.'

**

"Where is she?"

"I don't know, Sakura isn't normally late and she's not irresponsible enough to miss a meeting," Sasuke replied to Naruto's question.

Kakashi appeared in a poof of smoke and took in the sight before him with a frown.

Naruto was looking apprehensive and Sasuke was frowning with a look of concentration on his face.

Sakura was…

Kakashi blinked and looked around to see where his only female student was.

Turning back to the two boys he asked them "Where is Sakura?"

"We don't know. You are several hours late and we haven't seen her all morning. We were hoping you might know," Naruto answered.

Kakashi's gaze hardened and he stiffened slightly.

'Judging by her reaction last night to Naruto's question and her lack of showing up it might be safe to guess things didn't go well. Is she not here because of her own reason? Would her parents actually stop her from showing up?'

Kakashi released a sigh.

'I'll have to look into it after we report to the Hokage. We're late enough as it is and it'd possibly make matters worse if Sasuke and Naruto are with me. I hope it's something simple, I really don't need this and don't want to have to possibly interfere in anyone's home life.'

"Okay, first we'll report the mission to the Hokage. Then you two are to go train either with each other or by yourselves. I'll go to see what the situation is with Sakura afterwards. Maybe she forgot to set her alarm and was exhausted," Kakashi said while hoping he was easing the tension.

With that they went and gave the mission report before the boys left to train and Kakashi looked for his lost student.

The Third Hokage had expressed concern over the matter as well but trusted Kakashi to resolve it.

**

Sakura looked miserable. She was stewing in her own thoughts, furthering her uncomfortable and dejected feelings with the current situation.

'Kakashi-sensei said he'd talk to them if need be but he can't if he doesn't know he needs to. What if he's angry at me for not trying harder to get past dad or for not sneaking out? Will he tell me I'm no longer worthy of being on the team and kick me off it? Will he tell Naruto and Sasuke? Will they all hate me or laugh at me?'

The more Sakura thought to herself, the more withdrawn she was and more depressed she felt. She really wanted to cry but knew it wouldn't help and she'd just feel even weaker and more useless.

So absorbed in her thoughts, the girl didn't notice an arrival in her room until the man spoke.

**

Kakashi had thought about knocking on the door but decided to see if he could find Sakura and avoid her parents if possible. He really loathed the thought of dealing with them and wasn't going to do so if it was unnecessary.

He saw her from her balcony and noticed the look on her face.

'She looks miserable,' Kakashi thought to himself.

At that moment he was angry.

'I need to find out what's wrong. They are my students and soldiers now. If it's something she's feeling or upset about that'll probably be easy to fix, even if it's not my favorite thing in the world. However, if someone else is interfering and getting between her and her team and ninja duties…'

The thought trailed off as Kakashi felt a wave of possession or protectiveness. Just because he didn't let people in didn't mean he wasn't protective of what was his. This included his village, his friends, colleagues, books, and now included his students as well.

Making his choice, he entered her room and went to stand in front of where she sat on her bed.

"What's wrong Sakura?" His tone was gentle. He knew it's what was required when dealing with her or any upset girl.

She started and looked up at him with bright green eyes that were so close to letting tears escape.

"Sensei!"

That was the only warning he had. She launched at him and hugged him.

He let her and even wrapped both arms around her for a few moments. After that he lifted her, set her on her bed and tucked her hair behind her ears.

As he wiped away her tears, he made calming sounds while telling her it was okay and that everything would be fine.

Once she was calmed down enough he voiced the question to the reason behind his visit.

"Why didn't you show up for our debriefing?"

Sakura stiffened and flinched slightly before starting in on her explanation. She told him about her father's reaction the night before, the whole fight, everything said, and the blow up that they had this morning. Her father had went so far as to threaten to put bars over the door to the balcony and take off her bedroom door if he found out she snuck out from her room.

Pissed.

Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing

'Oh, that fucking bastard, I'm going to rip him a new one.'

Other thoughts were going through his mind and his expression had hardened, until he notice Sakura scoot back.

'So it's like that. He's the reason she's different from what's been told, I'd bet money on it.'

Kakashi let go a long and calming sigh.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan. Leave it up to me, I'll be sure to straighten this out. I'm glad you told me, though I wish I'd known sooner. That's not really your fault though."

With that Kakashi did something very uncharacteristic for him, it was driven by his need and desire to comfort the girl and let her know he'd never harm her.

He leaned over and gave her a masked kiss on her forehead before heading down to confront her father.

'Yup, he's officially on my shit list and I'm PISSED!'

* *

So there's another chapter. Sorry it wasn't out sooner. The next chapter… Yeah, Kakashi is pissed. He was territorial with Iruka in the anime about them being his little soldiers so I imagine he'd beyond angry about stuff like this.

I hope you enjoy. Please review.

PS- just as I was finishing editing this some things have come up that will make my life hectic for awhile. Therefore while I am not abandoning this story it might take me longer than I want to get the chapters written and posted. I apologize, but unfortunately life sucks.


	5. Kakashi's Fury

Disclaimer: I don't own, not making money or anything fun like that. If I did Kakashi would be mine, Pein would die a horrific unimaginable death and I'd be rich

AN- Okay, someone commented that last chapter wasn't that bad or really abusive. Unfortunately they didn't leave a way for me to respond. This was a peak, not all out. Sakura's story has more to it but it's not time for it all to come out. Also, not all abuse is physical, there is verbal abuse.

Also, I did name this kakashi's fury but we'll only see a peak into him starting to lose control but it'll be later when we see him downright pissed in the story.

As always, thanks to my beta Platti, though I'm surprised you haven't beaten me for not posting this sooner.

Chapter 4: Kakashi's Fury

As Kakashi was heading out Sakura's bedroom door, he thought better and instead poofed himself to the front door of the Haruno's residence. Kakashi immediately raised his fist and pounded on the door. It wasn't really polite, but he wasn't in the mood to be polite and wanted to stress his unhappiness. In a matter of moments the door was opened and the Copy Nin was face to face with Mr. Haruno.

"Hello, can I help you?" Mr. Haruno asked in a clipped tone.

"I'm here for Sakura, she was supposed to meet her team and report with us to the _Hokage_ hours ago." Kakashi's response was cold as he emphasized who they were meeting.

"Oh? Well she must have forgotten, she can be brain dead at times," came Mr. Haruno's response and carefree tone.

"Bullshit! The Sakura I know and have been teaching isn't some lazy, brain dead, or irresponsible brat. I've already been upstairs and spoken to her so why don't you shut the hell up before you dig your hole deeper." Kakashi's voice came out ice cold and venomous. Mr. Haruno was livid looking as he started with his retort,

"Now look here! Who the hell do you –" the father's rant was cut off by Kakashi slamming him into the side of the doorway.

"I'm her Sensei, and a special jonin in the village. I'm also a former ANBU captain. That is who I am. So long as I am her teacher, I am as good as a parental figure, and as such I will protect her and raise her as a sensei should."

"I am only going to warn you once. Do NOT come between her and her ninja duties. If you do, I will drag you to the Hokage so that he can decide whether he wishes to treat you as a traitor to the village for such actions."

Wide eyes and a slow nod was the only intelligent response the man in the Copy Nin's grasp could come up with.

"By the way, if you ever threaten to put bars over her window or leave even a small bruise on her again, I will feed you to my pack," growled out the silver haired man.

Kakashi wasn't a genius for nothing, nor was he blind. He had seen the mark on Sakura's face. It had looked like she'd been hit, probably open palm, but hard. With the argument she told him about it wasn't hard to figure where it had come from.

With this said and feeling his point was made; he threw the man inside and shut the front door.

Kakashi decided to go upstairs to check on his student one last time before reporting his findings to the Hokage. He just couldn't feel comfortable leaving her alone with how the situation was.

Sakura was shocked. There was no other way to describe the disbelief she felt in hearing her aloof sensei stand up for her like that. It wasn't hard to hear the two men. At first Sakura was glad, and then she was scared because her father would probably take it out on her, and then just in complete disbelief that Kaka-Sensei had threatened the man.

'At least now I don't have to worry about bars over my window,' Sakura thought to herself.

'How am I going to repay him though? What if he takes it out on me during training? What if he's really angry at me for not doing better or letting a civilian stop me? Hopefully he won't be. He seems to be a good guy…' her thoughts trailed off as her attention was drawn to a tapping sound coming from her window. Confused, Sakura motioned for Kaka-Sensei to come in.

"You came back?" her question was accompanied by a puzzled look.

Kakashi gave her a happy eye crease before responding, "I didn't want to just leave in case I caused problems for you. I thought I'd leave you with some company incase you have any more trouble." Sakura watched as he cut his thumb and did some seals. When the smoke cleared, Pakkun and Bull were on her bedroom floor, looking at Kakashi for instructions.

Cutting to the chase, Kakashi immediately gave them his orders, "This is Sakura-chan, my student. Sakura-chan, the pug is Pakkun and the other is Bull. I want the two of you to stay here with Sakura-chan. If there are any problems, you are to protect her and come get me without hesitation. I don't care what the issue is, I want to know about it. If needed, summon the others to help you."

The two summons nodding their understanding. Smiling he turned to Sakura and ruffled her hair.

"I am late for a meeting with the Hokage. Try to see if you can find Naruto to get some training in, ok? I'll see you guys later." Sakura smiled and thanked her sensei.

Sakura didn't have any issues with her father when leaving her house. She informed them that she was going to find her teammate and train like her sensei instructed her to. It wasn't a hard task to find Naruto, with Pakkun and Bull there they were able to help her locate him in a matter of a few minutes. Turns out, he was on one of the training grounds instead of at the ramen stand, which would have been the girl's first stop.

"Hello Naruto!" Sakura yelled over to her teammate.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto was enthusiastic as ever to see his teammate and crush. He stopped his training and came running over to her and the dogs.

"Wow, I didn't know you have dogs," Naruto commented as squatted to look at them closer.

"Actually, they are Kaka-sensei's summons. He left them with me and told me I should find you so we could train." seeing the slight disappointment in his blue eyes at the fact she didn't come on her own she felt bad.

"I thought it sounded like a good suggestion. Sparring with you is good for building my stamina and afterwards, perhaps we can grab some ramen before doing some more training and studying."

"Aw, Sakura-chan, why do we have to study when we're already out of the academy?" the whiney question made Sakura want to sigh, but she held it in and answered him patiently.

"Someday we're going to want to advance to a higher rank, while there will be some fighting to show off our skill, we'll still need knowledge as well."

Naruto sighed in response for a moment before returning to his usual hyper self and urging her to get moving to they can get better and advance already. The two dogs went to lie down and watch the two young ninjas train until they were exhausted. When they left for food the dogs went with them, obeying Kakashi's orders to stay with the girl.

Kakashi immediately went to the Hokage tower to speak with the leader at once. He knew Sakura might not be happy about him reporting what happened but he needed to do whatever was in her best interest. Kakashi knocked on the door and waited for the command to enter.

"Lord Hokage, I wish to speak with you about Sakura and the reasoning behind her not showing up." hearing Kakashi's serious voice, the Third looked up from his paperwork and gave the silver haired man his complete attention. Kakash explained everything. How he went there immediately after giving his mission report. He gave all the details of how he found Sakura when he got there, how upset she had been, the threats her father had made to her, and his own encounter with the man.

"At the moment I have my summons with her to make sure she doesn't catch a backlash from my confrontation with him. She should be fine though if she took my advice and found Naruto to train with. Though on the same token, she'll probably be too tired to move when they stop," Kakashi finished.

The Hokage wasn't pleased but at the moment there wasn't much that could be done. Without Sakura coming forward to say something they couldn't do anything and they didn't think she was likely to.

"Hopefully your threat will be enough to knock some sense into the man. Maybe it will be a one time mistake and it won't happen again. However, I will note it in her file so that it can be checked up on. If it still seems to be an issue after the Exams, then I will have an ANBU member look into it."

Kakashi was annoyed, what if something happened to her again. "What if it is too late by then? What if he hurts her or interferes again?"

The elder man studied the young teacher in front of him. Smoking his pipe, he stared intently for a few moments before responding to the concerns.

"For now I will leave the issue in your hands, and you have my permission to do anything necessary to protect your student. As a ninja, and as her sensei, it is your duty to protect her as your own child, even if against her own parents. I would advise using some caution so it doesn't get out of hand and cause a divide between civilians and ninjas. Dismissed"

Kakashi nodded his understanding before thanking the man and departing.

Kakashi had stopped by his apartment to grab some food then headed out to train. First he had done some training by himself to calm down his frustration. Afterwards, he stumbled upon Gai and decided it was a perfect chance to challenge the man that usually was the one issuing challenges. They had an intense spar before agreeing on a draw. Kakashi decided to meditate a bit before heading to check up on all three students. He had decided this would raise the least attention and flags than if he'd just checked up on Sakura.

By the time Kakashi caught up with his students it was past dinner time. Sasuke had finished eating and was debating on going back out to train.

"You've trained enough; if you don't give your body proper rest then you will do it more harm then good, which will set you back instead." Sasuke didn't say anything in response to his sensei but just nodded his head and stared at him.

After a couple minutes he finally voiced his question. "Did you ever find where Sakura was earlier? Was she too busy with make up or her hair?"

Kakashi tensed for a millisecond before relaxing again. "Don't be quick to judge, you should know that not everything is as it seems. There was a problem, I took care of it, but that's between me and her." Sasuke looked curious but didn't say anything else and Kakashi was out the window on his way to the next stop.

Kakashi was mildly surprised to find Sakura there when he stopped by Naruto's apartment after Sasuke's. He tried to tell the blonde that he needed to eat more than ramen or he'd die of malnutrition.

"Ew, fruits and vegetables are disgusting Sensei."

Kakashi sighed, "Think how pitiful it would be if you died from such a death before becoming the hokage. Sasuke would laugh at your grave and probably take your place."

"WHAT! Give me those." it seemed that was the proper motivation for the boy to eat something healthy. Sakura had watched the exchange, trying to resist the urge to hit Naruto for being an idiot. She didn't have the energy for it and honestly she was laughing on the inside at the two of them. Pakkun and Bull just rolled their eyes at the hyperactive kid.

"How about I walk you home Sakura? It is getting kind of late and I'm sure you're beat from sparring with Naruto."

The pink hair girl took a deep breath and nodded her consent. "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto, have a goodnight!"

"Goodnight Sakura-chan, goodnight Kaka-sensei!" Kakashi bid his student a goodnight as well before heading off with his only female student and his summons in tow.

The walk to her house was quiet. Kakashi didn't want to say much at that moment, but knew he'd have to talk to her briefly before he left her for the night. Sakura wasn't saying much. She was a little nervous to be heading home and didn't really know what to say to her sensei. There was so much she wanted to but didn't know how to say it so she didn't say anything. A little before her house, Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura, I'm leaving you here, but I promise I'll be waiting for you in your room. I want to make sure it'll be okay to leave you with your parents. I'm taking the dogs with me so I can see how your parents react when they think me and the dogs aren't with you. Don't worry, I'll protect you." with that, he and his summons disappeared in a poof of smoke. Sakura walked to her house and entered somewhat timidly. Her parents greeted her and asked how her training was. Other than that they left her alone and she went upstairs to her room.

Kakashi was waiting for her like he promised. He was sitting patiently on her bed.

"No troubles I assume?" Sakura shook her head no as she came to stand in front of him.

"Good, then hopefully it will be a onetime issue." Kakashi offered a smile with his signature eye crease. Sakura smiled slightly but was still a little nervous. The previous night had been stressful, her morning wasn't any better and she was tired from training. Most of her stress and frustration had been worked out but she was still a little worried about there being issues again and was wondering something.

"What now, Kaka-sensei?" Her voice was soft as she asked him the question. Kakashi stood up and looked down at her before answering.

"Now you leave it up to me. You are my student and I will protect you until the day comes that I am unable to or you don't need me to. I know you might not be thrilled to hear this, but I spoke to the Third about this. He is leaving the issue in my hands for now. When you are with the team you'll be perfectly fine, but for now I'll leave one of the pack with you when you are home at night." Sakura looked at him in surprise. She noticed the dogs weren't there but just assumed that now the day was over he sent them back. She was slightly embarrassed he went to the Hokage but overall, she was thankful. Without any thought about it, she closed the gap and hugged him.

"Thank you sensei." she whispered to the older man. Kakashi stiffened a little but relaxed again. He had a feeling he was going to have to get use to this a little bit. He wasn't completely comfortable with contact, but he figured the girl could probably use it and just needed someone who was there. Hugging her back, he told her he told her she should get ready for bed.

"I'm going outside to summon one of my dogs; I'll be back in shortly." Sakura took the hint and got changed while he was outside and got ready for bed. When she came back in her room from the bathroom Kakashi was inside with a different dog. This dog was gray and white fur.

"This is Urushi, he will be staying with you tonight." Sakura nodded and pet the new dog lightly for a moment before climbing into bed. Kakashi noticed she was looking at him kind of odd and then looking away.

"Is something wrong?"

"No… It is just weird to see and talk to you so much. You're normally so aloof. I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate your help but I'm not use to this. Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." Kakashi looked at her for a moment before laughing lightly and putting his hand on her head to mess her hair a little.

"It's okay, I understand. Have a goodnight Sakura-chan. I'll see you three tomorrow." With that, he tucked her in to her bed and took off to his apartment after she fell asleep in moments.

AN- Sorry it took so long to finish. Life has been crazy but I have returned and I'm glad I wrote this. It has been too long since I've written for one of my stories.


	6. AN Question

Okay, so I more than owe an apology for taking so long to write. I know it's been forever and some people probably think I'm dead or something.

First off I am NOT giving up on this story. I am going to keep writing. At the moment I am trying to decide how to proceed from here. I have an idea but I don't want to move the story along too fast but at the same time I don't want to drag it out, especially since I plan on keeping most of the chunnin exam the same, the only difference being Sakura isn't as much a crybaby. Though she won't be superwoman either

I have a poll in my profile if you want to look and vote. It'll help me decide but won't be the sole deciding factor, especially if my muse gets a random brain wave and I run with it.

Please don't review to this because the next chapter will replace this and you might want to review that. I have started to write it but I am not thrilled with how it's flowing.


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